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Chapter 7 Peoples of North America

1.
CHAPTER 7
Peoples of North America

2.
SETTING THE SCENE
Climate and natural resources had profound effects
on the daily life for the first people in North America
 The impact of the environment stretched far beyond
the southwest
 Hundreds of cultural groups emerged in presentday United States and Canada
 Early people lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering
 The success of farming led to large populations and
permanent settlements


4.
THE DESERT SOUTHWEST---HOHOKAMS
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More than 1,000 years ago, fields of corn, beans, and
squash bloomed in the desert southwest
These crops were raised by the Hohokams (“Vanished
Ones”)
To farm the desert, they built complex irrigation systems
The Hohokams lived near the Gila River in present-day
Arizona
They may have acquired skills such as irrigation from
the civilizations of Middle America
They built temple mounds and ball courts
The Hohokams survived until about 1500 AD, when a
drought forced them from their settlements

7.
THE DESERT SOUTHWEST---ANASAZIS
The best-known society of the southwest was that
of the Anasazi
 They lived in what is known as the Four Corners
region of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah
 Between about 900-1300 AD, the Anasazi built
large villages called pueblos (named by the
Spanish)
 Kivas (large underground chambers) were used for
religious ceremonies
 Paintings on walls show their concern with
weather, including storms that might damage crops
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16.
THE DESERT SOUTHWEST---ANASAZIS
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In the late 1100s, the Anasazi began building housing
complexes in the shadow of canyon walls, where the
cliffs offered protection from raiders
The largest of these cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, in
present-day Colorado, had over 200 rooms
People had to climb ladders to reach their fields on the
flatlands above or the canyon floor below
In the late 1200s, a long drought forced the Anasazi to
abandon their land
Attacks by Navajos and Apaches may have contributed
further to their decline
Anasazi traditions survive among the Hopis and other
Pueblo Indians of the present-day southwestern U.S.

21.
THE MOUND BUILDERS
In the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, other farming
cultures emerged as early as 700 BC
 The Adena and Hopewell peoples left behind giant
earthen mounds
 The Mississippian people also built great earthen
mounds
 Their greatest center, Cahokia in present-day
Illinois, housed as many as 40,000 people by about
1200 AD
 Cahokia boasted at least 60 mounds


27.
DIVERSE REGIONAL CULTURES
Modern scholars have identified 10 culture areas in
North America based on the environments in which
people lived: Arctic, Subarctic, Northwest Coast,
California, Great Basin, Plateau, Southwest, Great
Plains, Eastern Woodlands, and Southeast
 In each area, people adapted to geographic
conditions that influenced their ways of life


28.
A FROZEN WORLD
In the frozen north, the Inuits (Eskimos) adapted to
a harsh climate using limited resources of the
frozen land to survive
 Seals and other sea mammals provided them with
food, skins for clothing, bones for needles and
tools, and oil for cooking
 The used kayaks in open waters or dog sleds to
transport goods across ice
 Inuits also constructed igloos, or dome-shaped
homes made from snow and ice


33.
A LAND OF PLENTY
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The people of the Northwest Coast lived in a far richer
environment than the Inuits
Rivers teemed with salmon, and the Pacific Ocean
offered other fish and sea mammals
Hunters tracked deer, wolves, and bears in forests
People built large, permanent villages with homes made
of wood
They traded surplus goods, gaining wealth that was
shared at a potlatch
At this ceremony, which continues in Canada today, a
person of rank and wealth distributes lavish gifts to a
large number of guests
By accepting the gifts, the guests acknowledge the
host’s high status

39.
THE IROQUOIS LEAGUE
The Iroquois lived in the Eastern Woodlands, which
stretched from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Lakes
 According to Iroquois tradition, the prophet
Dekanawidah urged rival Iroquois nations to stop
their constant wars
 Out of that grew the Iroquois League---an alliance
of five nations who spoke the same language and
shared similar traditions
 Member nations governed their own villages but
met jointly in a council when they needed to
address larger issues
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